My Geography teacher has started an experiment which involves me writing about what I have learnt in my lessons and about any geographical news that interests me. My Geography teacher is also going to write a blog about what she teaches me (and therefore what I should have learnt!) and hopefully the two blogs will match up. The idea is that this will not only help me to consolidate what I learn but that it will also help fellow students do the same and keep up to date with current issues.

Monday, 21 March 2011

Reassessing the global future of nuclear power

Although my blogging standards have never been that high, they have slipped recently (which is bad I know considering all of the geography related issues that have been in the news) and so I thought I had better start producing some half decent posts over the next few weeks. I haven't had a lot of time tonight and so the three posts I have posted are only brief ones but I am working on some better ones which include questionning whether or not we can go 100% renewable, discussing whether or not current farming practices are renewable and how they are going to have to change in the future, is there such a thing as a man-made natural disaster and some of the controversy surrounding the Lusi mud volcano, amongst others......

Millie seems to have all the news that is going on in Japan pretty well covered and so I thought I would try and take a different approach to the situation and present how the future of nuclear power across the world is currently being reassessed. As the situation involving the nuclear reactors in Japan has continued to escalate the future of nuclear power has become uncertain as the safety of such plants has come under scrutiny and overall, much of the general public are now viewing nuclear power with more hesitance and uncertainity. This reaction was, perhaps, inevitable especailly since many are calling this the worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl meltdown of 1986 but individual countries have taken a differing approach to the future of nuclear power.

The German Chancellor, Merkel, announced last week that Germany is going to shut down all seven of its nuclear power plants (which produce 23% of the nations energy) that were constructed before 1980 for at least the next three months whilst investigations can be held into their safety. This greatly contradicts what was announced last year in relation to keeping them open into the mid 2030's. Switzerland have suspended all of its nuclear plans pending safety reviews and have also joined an EU initative to stress test all nuclear reactors to determine whether or not they can withstand earthquakes, amognst other emmergencies, with the view that all of those that fail must be permanently closed down. China has also joined Switzerland in suspending its plans for further development of nuclear power until safety reviews have been completed.

Although many other world leaders have called for caution and analysis, many have be much slower at suspending their own nuclear plans. President Putin, of Russia, has said that he will not back away from nuclear power but that “analysis of the current condition of the atomic sector and an analysis of the plans for future development” will occur in the near future. France, who source the majority of their energy from their 58 nuclear reactors, have said, in response to the question presented at the EU's emmergency meeting last week which asked whether or not, in the future, Europe can meet energy needs without nuclear power, that "to say to the French that we are going to give up nuclear power would be lying". India have also refused to rethink their plans to quadruple their nuclear capability by 2020 and claim that the istuation in Japan has only made them, like many other countries it seems, consider "attitional safeguards".

The intentions of increasing the UK's nuclear power generation capability have been made very clear ever since 10 new reactors were commissioned and the situation in Japan has not seemed to greatly affect these intentions as EDF announced yesterday that UK nuclear plants must go ahead. Although many are calling for the government to suspend the approval process for new nuclear sites until the report, commissioned by the government, into the lessons of the Japanese disaster has been published; the boss of EDF has claimed that his company have already reviewed the back-up systems and emmergency plans at all of EDF's existing nuclear plants in the UK. He has also insisted that, although lessons learnt form Japan will be implemented, that the future of nuclear power in the two countries should be considered seperately as the two countries face very different circumstances.

I must admit that I believe that, whether or not you are pro or anti-nuclear, this is the best way to view the situation. I think that lessons can be learnt from Japan, in terms of ensuring that good emmergency plans are put in place, that safety remains of up most importance and that the age of the nuclear reactors is monitered. However, whilst these stress tests are carried out I think that people need to remember that not every country lies in such a tectonically active region as Japan and that the earthquake experienced was extremely large, even for Japanese standards. It is going to be interesting to see just how this industry has been affected after the situation has calmed down a bit and more control over it has been gained. Previous to the nuclear 'crisis' in Japan, I believed that nuclear power would be the energy source exploited by developing countries as they endeavour to boost their environmental credientials and reduce their dependency on oil and coal but this situation has seemed to really shake up the nuclear power industry and put questions on its future. Even the EU has asked whether or not Europe can meet their energy demands without utilising nuclear power or not; although I think that, perhaps, it is rather idealistic to think that Europe can continue to improve its environmental credentials in the near future without using some nuclear power.

There is a really good picture article on National Geographic which individually discusses the problems, if any, that the top 10 nuclear power producers in the world may face due to tectonic activity and how recent events in Japan are likely to change the way they approach nuclear power in the near future. Click on the link below to view it Top Ten Nuclear Nations' Quake Hazard

If any more news, in relation to how the global views and approach to nuclear power have been changed, is announced I will try and update my blog with it as not only is this interesting but it is also very relevant to the energy module we have done and so perhaps could be useful to mention in essays related to the topic.

Geography Films

My Geography teacher is always reminding my class that watching (geography related) films can contribute to the 3 hours of reading time we are supposed to do each week. On both her blog and the Facebook page there are lists of recommended films and so I thought I would start to watch some of them and write a review on them from a student's perspective. If I would recommeded them to a fellow student then I will add the film to my own list below.......

- THE AGE OF STUPID (great film to watch for the energy module as it talks about climate change, energy consumption and production via some interesting case studies)

- THE COVE (this film is very thought provoking and presented the issues surrounding the dolphin trade - before watching this I didn't know a lot about the issue, especially the scale of it in Japan, and it left me feeling very shocked that something like this still exists today in such a developed country)

-ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (a great documentary with some simply stunning footage and interesting interviews that collectively provide an insight into life in Antarctica and the important research that is taking place)

-THE CONSTANT GARDENER (a rather sad story about how a drug company exploit the Kenyan population to allow them to test a new drug, despite the fact they know it has harmful side effects - good film for development and globalisation)

- ERIN BROCKOVICH (a good film that presents the negative impacts of the natural gas industry and the extent to which large companies are prepared to go to, to cover this up)

- SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (provides an insight into the life of children living in the Indian slums - good film to watch for development)

- GANDHI (a biopic about the life of Gandhi with particular reference to his prominent role in India's struggle for freedom from colonial rule)

- CRY FREEDOM (set in South Africa and tells the true story of Biko and his friendship with a white liberal newspaper editor - good film to watch for development)

- THE PAINTED VEIL (set in China, in the 1920's, and explores the impact of a cholera outbreak on a village, including references as to how religious beliefs make containing cholera even more challenging)

- BLOOD DIAMOND (set amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone; it explores many issues including those surrounding the diamond trade, supply of arms to rebels and child soldiers - good film to watch for development and globalisation module)- THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (after the Larsen B ice shelf collapses, the thermohaline circulation shutdowns, provoking glacial inception in the northern hemisphere - a good film to watch and then point out the geographical/scientific mistakes!)

- GOODBYE BAFANA (follows the unlikely friendship that forms between Mandela and his prision officer - good for development and globalisation)

- INVICTUS (after 27 years imprisionment, Mandela becomes South Africa's first elected president and this film follows his bid to unite the country via the rugby world cup - good film for development and globalisation)

- DARFUR (a group of international journalists travel to a village in Darfur in search of evidence to persuade the UN that genocide has occured but are forced to live after the Janjaweed turn up and threaten to kill them.... a film to watch for either development and globalisation or the population module but be warned it is very graphic)

Geography Books

I am a bit of a bookworm and often prefer reading a good book to watching a film and so (like I am doing with the Geography films) I am going to read some of the suggested books and write a review on them so I can comment on whether or not I think they are worth reading........

- AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH, Al Gore ( presents the issue of climate change and discusses how it has been caused and the impacts it is likely to have - well worth reading but if you prefer the film version is equally as a good)

- OUR CHOICE, Al Gore (this books follows on from An Inconvenient Truth by offering the solutions Al Gore thinks are required to solve the issue of Global Climate Change)

- THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND, William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer (tells the extraordinary true story of a Malawian teenager who overcame many obstacles to provide electricity and clean water for his village by capturing the energy in both the wind and the sun)

- BLOOD RIVER, Tim Butcher (tells the story of Tim Butchers quest to retrace the journey taken by H.M.Stanley in the 1870's. From this you get an insight into the history of the Congo and the factors that have effected its development - great book for the development and globalisation module as it provides an insight into the impact colonialism has had on Africa)

- GAIA, James Lovelock (presents the Gaia hypothesis which is the idea that the Earth functions as a living organism and so self-regulates to adapt to changing conditions - puts forward some very interesting ideas and really makes you think - it is worth a read!)

- THE REVENGE OF GAIA, James Lovelock (applies the Gaia hypothesis to global climate change - again an intriguing read which presents some interesting ideas and solutions to problems we are likely to face)

About Me

Whilst studying A-levels in Geography, Chemistry, Biology, Maths and History, I became completely fascinated by the Earth Sciences and found them particularly good for feeding my natural curiosity, providing answers to my never ending list of questions! Despite my relentless enthusiasm and frequent question asking, I was quite a quiet student in comparison to the rest of my class so my teacher asked me to start this blog as part of her experiment to test the benefits of incorporating social media into education. The aim was to find out if social networking can be a valuable educational tool and discover how much I actually learnt in lessons. It proved to be a huge success, for both myself and other students, with all my A-level notes still available for students use. I am currently at University studying BSc (Joint Honours) ‘Physical Geography with Oceanography’ and still asking way too many questions! In an attempt to continue to share my love for anything Earth Science-related, and to see if it can have the same benefits at Higher Education, I am trying to continue the blogging and use of social networking. I hope it proves to be a useful and interesting read!

The what, why and how of this blog.......

Hopefully you will have worked this out by now, but this blog is written from a student's perspective and, when combined with my teachers blog, should provide an insight into what I get taught - therefore what I should have learnt - in my Geography lessons. The idea is that this will make it a useful place to go to consolidate your learning; somewhere to go if you didn't quite understand something or missed a lesson. As well as this, posts will be written on anything of general geographical interest whether that be something currently in the news, anything related that I read or watch, anything I do or a topic that I just fancy finding out more about - all of this is designed to broaden our geographical knowledge. When it comes to revision I will try and write up as many notes as possible but it is unlikely that I will be able to cover everything so just let me know if there is anything you would like me to cover. So, thats what the blog is about (simply sharing, with anyone willing to read it, lots of geographical stuff that interests me!) and I am writing it because I tend to get a little enthusiastic about Geography and ask too many questions and so by channeling my interest in this way it will hopefully help you as much as it helps me!!! Whats the best way to use it? Well for starts reading/following the blogs and other resources is the only way you will benefit from them! Secondly, participate and get involved - comment on things, I am bound to get things wrong so correct me, you won't agree with everything I say so tell me what you think and perhaps even suggest things for me to read, watch or look into as I am always looking for new ways to extend my knowledge outside of the classroom. Geography is a discursive subject and, especially with human Geography, for the most part about forming/expressing opinions, so discuss the topics raised via the blogs etc. - trust me, its an easy way to learn!

I am now at University studying BSc (Joint Honours) Physical Geography with Oceanography - to keep my A-level notes separate I have started a new blog for current news and what I am learning in University - anything relevant I will also post on this blog, but please feel free to ask questions or requests posts! I hope students are still finding this a useful resource!

Disclaimer

'What I learnt in Geography this week.....' was created by, with content written by Vicki The Geography Student as part of an experiment conducted by Millie The Geography Teacher.

All posts published are my personal views, apart from where stated otherwise, and not those of the college I attended, my University or associated partners